After graduating from one of Chicago’s top high schools, Whitney Young, and playing college football for a year in Atlanta, Joy returned home to the South Side. He joined AmeriCorps, a national network of volunteers, and worked with disadvantaged students at a school near Douglas Park.

Just 23 years old, he envisioned a career in politics someday.

That path was cut short Thursday night, when he was shot to death in what his family believes was an attempt to steal his cellphone near the University of Chicago campus, just two blocks from his home.

“He wouldn’t harm a fly,” said Joy's girlfriend Gabriela Sanchez, who was talking on the phone with him before the attack.

“At his core, he was just a happy goofball all the time. And when he was with me, it was always laughing and just smiles all the time. He was a sweet guy.”

The pair was chatting just before 10:10 p.m. Thursday as Joy walked back to his car in the 6200 block of South Ingleside Avenue. He mentioned his phone battery was dying.

“I’ll call you when I get back inside,” he told her.

But then she heard something else. Another voice.

“Is that all you got?” it said.

The line clicked off and Sanchez assumed Joy had run into someone he knew. He was friends with a lot of people in the neighborhood who she didn't know.

People gather to remember Xavier Joy during a makeshift vigil in his memory at a parking lot in the 6200 block of South Ingleside Avenue on June 9, 2017, in Chicago. Joy, 23, was fatally shot there the night before. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

People gather to remember Xavier Joy during a makeshift vigil in his memory at a parking lot in the 6200 block of South Ingleside Avenue on June 9, 2017, in Chicago. Joy, 23, was fatally shot there the night before. (John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune)

“He never alerted me that anything was wrong,” Sanchez, 22, said Friday, recalling the final phone call with her boyfriend of nearly five years.

“He was a big guy, he’s really strong. He played football. He could handle himself. I thought everything was fine because sometimes he just forgets to text me back. He’s a little forgetful. Sometimes he just fell asleep.”

Sanchez said she didn’t know what happened until Joy’s mom called about 3 a.m. Friday.

Officers found Joy lying in the parking lot near his car with several gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene, a stretch of Woodlawn with apartment buildings and a park with a swing set and an area designated for yoga. A red stop sign with the words “Stop the killing” was painted on a concrete planter.

No one was reported in custody and police were releasing few details, though Joy's family said his cell phone was missing.

Joy comes from a family that has been involved in politics and community development.

His father is Ra Joy, executive director of Change Illinois, which describes itself as a statewide coalition pushing for political and government reform. The senior Joy is also the former executive director of Arts Alliance Illinois.

His mother, Nykea Pippion-McGriff, is president of the Women's Council of Realtors Chicago.

He has two younger brothers and two older sisters. One of his brothers is 13 years younger and has autism, which made Joy very protective of him, his mother said.

In his bio at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Joy said he wanted to get into politics "to give back to my community." The college's most famous alum is the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Family members mourn the death of former Morehouse College football player Xavier Joy, also a graduate of Chicago's Whitney Young.

Joy left Morehouse after a year to come home and work with children, Pippion-McGriff said. He worked in public schools in Chicago and Evanston. He taught children chess at after-school programs and mentored junior high students, according to his family.

Pippion-McGriff wondered why it took hours for police to notify her about her oldest son’s death. She came to the scene because she wanted to know as much as she could about what happened.

“This was a person who gave back to his community,” Pippion-McGriff said. “He worked for some of the worst schools in our city. It’s not OK that they took his life.

"We failed our generation of kids," she said. "No mother should have to bury her child. We have to come together to figure out what can be done to help our youth."

Joy’s grandmother took photos of the bloodstains on the concrete and plastic gloves left on the ground, calling the mess left behind by emergency crews “disrespectful.”

"He's supposed to be at my house today helping plant flowers," said Tytrea Baker, a minister and trauma nurse. "He's always been a good boy. Always been smart. Always been caring.

"And for him to die like this for a phone. Really? A phone?" she asked. "This was not necessary. There's no need for this. And you got a university no less than 50 feet away. You got kids and babies walking up this neighborhood. We should not have to live like animals. He should be able to walk home."

"No other son should have to die on this battlefield of Chicago," she said.

Joy's father could not be reached, but in a Facebook post he said "words cannot express the devastating pain and loss we are all feeling right now."

"Xavier was an incredibly creative, funny, and smart young man," Ra Joy wrote. "We hope and pray for an end to the violence that has impacted our family and so many others in our city."

Xavier Joy's family said he was shot over a phone. "Over a phone?" asked his grandmother, Tytrea Baker, a minister. "This is senseless."

Xavier Joy's family said he was shot over a phone. "Over a phone?" asked his grandmother, Tytrea Baker, a minister. "This is senseless."

Pippion-McGriff said her last conversation with her son was about former FBI director James Comey’s testimony before Congress on Thursday.

Sanchez said Joy always tried to share his passion for politics with her too.

“He was always trying to get me to watch CNN and always talking about the news,” she said. “He was really informed and really smart. He loved his family so much. He was a part of my family. He was a great person. It’s senseless.”

Rebeca Nieves Huffman, vice president and executive director of City Year Chicago, where Joy worked as a volunteer, said the young man was "a quiet, powerful force for good with the students he served."

"This is a devastating loss for City Year Chicago, our city and especially his family who are pillars of leadership in Chicago."